The proper role and scope of government

[classicman]

First off, this debate belongs in the Healthcare thread, but ...
I'll play the devil's advocate here ...

include those costs as part of a broad tax, roughly equivalent to what everyone is already paying in inflated health care costs

Do you have any data to back that up?

in a unified system, health care costs for EVERYONE will go down just on administrative streamlining alone.

Virtual impossibility. Perhaps overall, but when those who cannot afford are added, the cost will/must come from others.